Foot support for shower baths



Jan. 7, 1958 s. s. KUBIK ET AL 2,818,577

FOOT SUPPORT FOR SHOWER BATHS Filed July 3, 1956 STANLEY S. KUBIK JOHNKUBIK INVENTORS y 6 66 6? (2,1?

THEIR ATTORNEY United States Patent FOOT SUPPORT FOR SHOWER BATHSStanley S. Kubik and John Kubik, Los Angeles, Calif. Application July 3,1956, Serial No. 595,691

4 Claims. (Cl. 4-146) This invention relates to a foot support which isadapted for use in a shower bath.

At the present time, a shower bath customarily makes no provision forfacilitating washing the feet and legs. It is accordingly necessary fora person taking a shower either to balance on one foot and leg whilewashing the other or to bend down to the floor to wash these portions ofthe anatomy. In the case of older persons and those in poor health, bothof these procedures are difiicult and sometimes result in injury.

It is accordingly an object of our invention to provide a foot supportwhich is adapted to be installed in a shower bath and which providesfirm support at the proper height for washing the feet and legs.

In its preferred embodiment, our invention contemplates a device havingan elongated body member. A foot supporting plate is mounted at theupper end of the body member and a telescopically mounted T-bar isdisposed at the lower end. In use, the bottom of the T-bar bears againstone corner of the shower, while the foot supporting plate is disposedhorizontally, with one edge hearing against the opposite wall of theshower. The body member and T-bar extend diagonally across the shower,with their telescoping providing adjustability for the size of theshower and the height of the person using the device.

It is a further object of our invention to provide a resilient pad foruse on the foot supporting plate which grips the wall and which becauseof its special design will not hold water on its surface.

Another object of our invention is to provide in an alternativeembodiment of our invention a foot supporting plate which is adjustablewith respect to the body member to provide greater adjustability of thedevice.

It is accordingly among the objects of our invention to provide a deviceof the class described having all of the advantages and benefits of thestructure set forth and particularly to provide such a device which canbe manufactured in a simple and economical manner for widespread sale ata reasonable low price.

Our invention also comprises such other objects, advantages andcapabilities as will later more fully appear and which are inherentlypossessed by our invention.

While we have shown in the accompanying drawings preferred embodimentsof our invention, it should be understood that the same are susceptibleof modification and change without departing from the spirit of ourinvention.

Referring to the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a preferred embodiment of ourinvention, with the telescoped portion of the T-bar shown in dottedlines;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the same;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged top plan view of the bed on the foot supportingplate;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on line 44 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the upper end of an alternativeembodiment of our invention;

2,818,577 l atented Jan. 7, 1958 Fig. 6 is a side elevational view on areduced scale of our device in use, with the shower bath shown insection.

A preferred embodiment which has been selected to illustrate ourinvention comprises a body member 10, which preferably is formed from anelongated piece of metal tubing. Attached to the upper end of bodymember 10 by a pair of bolts 11 or other suitable fastening means is afoot supporting plate 12. The foot supporting plate 12 preferablycomprises a flat rectangular piece of metal.

Telescopically mounted in the hollow lower end of the body member 10 isthe upper end 13 of a T-bar 14. The T-bar 14 is also preferably formedof metal tubing, with its diameter being slightly smaller than that ofthe body member 10. The T-bar 14 has a base 15 which extendstransversely to the upper end 13. The entire outer surface of the base15 is covered with a resilient coating 16 which prevents marring ofpaint or other surfaces which it may contact and which also improves thegripping quality of the base 15. This resilient coating 16 may beapplied by dipping the lower portion of the T-bar 14 into a solution ofliquid plastic, rubber or other suitable material which dries to form aresilient coating 16 which extends around the entire outer surface ofthe base 15 and a short distance upwardly therefrom on the outside ofthe adjacent lower part of the upper end 13 of T-bar 14.

The lower end of the body member 10 is provided with a pair of alignedcircular openings 17. The upper end 13 of the T-bar 14 is provided witha plurality of spaced aligned openings 18 of corresponding size. A pin19 has a shank which extends through openings 17 and through any pair ofopenings 18 to hold the T-bar 14 in fixed telescopic relationship to thebody member 10. The pin 19 is provided with an enlarged head whichfacilitates its removal from the openings to adjust the positioning ofthe T-bar 14.

Mounted on the upper surface of the foot supporting plate 12 is a pad20, which is slightly larger than plate 12 and which is preferablyformed of rubber or other suitable resilient material. The bottom of thepad 20 is suitably attached to the plate 12, while the edges of the pad20 extend beyond the edges of the plate 12.

The upper surface of the pad 20 is provided with a series of spacedcontinuous vertical ridges 21, which are interlaced with a series ofspaced broken horizontal ridges 22. The outer edge of the pad 20 isprovided with a continous ridge 23, which is broken along one edge by aseries of openings 24, which are aligned with the ends of the verticalridges 21 and which are spaced slightly therefrom.

This pattern is important because it acts to prevent water fromaccumulating on the pad 20 when our device is in use. In thisconnection, it will be noted that the ridges actually define a pluralityof channels which funnel the water and cause it to flow along the sidesof the vertical ridges 21 toward the openings 24.

In use, our device is positioned in a shower in the man ner shown inFig. 6 of the drawings. The base 15 of the T-bar 14 fits within onecorner of the shower, with the body member 10 extending diagonallyacross the shower and the edge of the pad 20 of foot supporting plate 12bearing against the opposite wall of the shower.

It may be noted that the straight edge of the pad 20 which contacts thewall of the shower is provided with a downwardly directed integral lip25, as shown in Fig. 2. The lip 25 acts as a cushion to prevent marringthe wall of the shower. It also provides a better grip on the wall andincreases the range of adjustability of positioning of our device.

With the device in the position described, the user 3 places his or herfoot on the pad 20 of foot supporting plate 12. The plate 12 is firmlysupported by the body member 10 and T-bar 14 and will support the footand leg while they are being washed. .It is not necessary for the showeruser to balance on one .foot or to bend over while washing the feet andlegs. As soon as one foot and leg have been washed, the device may beused in the same position or in the opposite position .for washing theother foot and leg.

Fig. of the drawings shows an alternative embodiment of our invention inwhich the foot supporting plate 30 is adjustably mounted with respect tothe body member 31. This is accomplished by attaching one half of ahinge 32 to the plate 30, while the other half is attached to the end ofthe body member 31. The adjacent end of the body member 31 is providedwith a pair of aligned openings through which a pin 33 is removablymounted. A pair of brackets 34 are attached to the plate 30 and have aplurality of spaced aligned openings 35. The pin 33 may be removed andthe positioning of the plate .30 adjusted with respect to the bodymember 31. The pin 33 may then be replaced through the openings in bodymember 31 and any desired pair of openings 35 in the brackets 34.

We claim:

1. In a foot support for removably fitting in a shower bath stall, anelongated body member, a linear base element arranged transversely atone end of said body member and connected thereto, and a plate adaptedto support the foot of a shower user rigidly connected to the other endof the body member and disposed in a plane diagonal to the axis of thebody member, said element being substantially parallel to the plane ofsaid plate, said foot support being adapted to be positioned so thatsaid 4 base element engages a side bottom corner of the shower stall andthe foot plate is arranged substantially horizontally with its outeredge bearing against a side wall of the stall opposite that corneragainst which the base element bears, the body member of the footsupport being disposed to extend at a diagonal angle in the stall.

2. In a foot support as claimed in claim 1, means wherein said baseelement comprises a T-shaped part having a stem petition telescopicallyengaging the lower part of said body member and a bar transverse to saidstern portion.

3. In a foot support as claimed in claim 1 wherein said foot supportingplate is hingedly connected with the body with means between said plateand said body to adjust the relative inclination between them.

4. In a foot support as claimed in claim 1 wherein a resilient pad ismounted upon the outer face of said foot supporting plate, and a patternof ridges with breaks formed on said plate so as to prevent wateraccumulating upon said pad.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,513,440 Wirt Oct. 28, 1924 1,976,121 Gazvoda Oct. 9, 1934 2,567,883Bryant Sept. 11, 1951 2,576,883 Koski Nov. 27, 1951 2,634,795 BishopApr. 14, 1953 2,671,908 Tronic Mar. 16, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 355,758Great Britain Feb. 19, 1930 689,616 France May 27, 1930

